Page 17 - Coespu Magazine 2018-2

occasionally undertake some form of joint activity, for instance, a humanitarian convoy with a military
escort. Regardless of whether there is open cooperation or only limited coexistence, some amount of
coordination is required. Coordination in the UN context can therefore range on a scale from
cooperation in its maximum
state to coexistence in its
minimum state.
Nevertheless, there are some
complementarities, if not
compatibilities, among these
civil-military approaches.
These major international
players are realising the
complex landscape that
impacts their approaches to
civil-military coordination;
the simultaneous nature of
everything from conflict
prevention to conflict
management to peace
building and peacekeeping; and the need for comprehensive, collaborative, and coordinated
approaches. The key for any civil-military practitioner in international peace operations is to become
familiar enough with these various approaches to facilitate greater interoperability in general while
protecting the integrity of numerous multilateral, regional, and national organizations working for a
common purpose — as part of or in partnership with UN-mandated operations.
In many ways, civil-military coordination is more a mind-set than a skill-set, and it is the application of
common-sense wisdom.
In this second issue of the CoESPU Magazine 2018, we will try to deep the principle aspects and
challenges for civil-military cooperation within the framework of a comprehensive approaches to
complex peace operations, thanks to the high professional articles delivered by external specialists,
lecturers and contributors, and aiming to better understand UN-CIMIC guidelines and field actions into
the UN mission’s overall vision and strategy, in support of every peace process.

Written by:

Capt Alberto VERONESE
CoESPU Managing Editor

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